


Distractions

by hylianspeedster



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Hurt Lance (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, M/M, Mutual Pining, POV Alternating, Slow Burn, Space Dad Shiro (Voltron), Team Voltron Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-16
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-01-18 09:46:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 5,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12385698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hylianspeedster/pseuds/hylianspeedster
Summary: All in all it had seemed like a normal mission. Sneak into a Galra station and steal some information to help the coalition plan their attacks. Normal, except for the fact that Lance and Keith's mutual feelings distracted them and Lance ended up hurt. And of course Keith is blaming himself.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there. This is actually my first fic for Voltron, first fic on the Archive and my first fic in actual years. Not beta read so I'll just let you decide if it's any good I guess. Takes place in Season 2 sometime after the Blades of Marmora episode so everyone knows Keith is part Galra. Hope you enjoy.

“All right, guys, keep your guard up. I’m seeing another squad of troops heading your way.”

Lance grins. “Don’t worry, Hunk. You’re talking to the team’s resident sharpshooter, remember?” His smile falters as he hears a snort from his side. “Don’t even start, Keith.”

Dark eyes full of amusement meet his. “Sorry but, I’m pretty sure I took out most of that last group, _Sharpshooter_.”

“How dare you. I definitely took out at least half of those sentries.”

Keith shrugged. “Tell yourself whatever you need to hear. Pretty sure if we check they’ll have sword wounds instead of little bullet holes.”

“Excuse me?” Lance cries, staggering back a few steps and clutching his chest in mock pain. “My bayard doesn’t fire bullets! They’re _laser_ bullets.”

“Really? That’s what you’re focusing on?”

“Well, of course. Can’t let you keep thinking my awesome bayard is just like any other gun.”

Keith stares at him for a moment. “I honestly can’t tell if you’re serious or not right now. Either way it’s basically jus-“ His eyes dart to the corridor ahead of them and shoves Lance into a nearby doorway.

“What the quizna-mmmp!” Lance glares at Keith’s hand covering his mouth and is ready to reach up to yank it away until he hears a noise. Metal footsteps echoing down the hallway towards their position. Lots of them. His eyes widen and he nods up at Keith who removes his hand with a warning look. Lance rolls his eyes. “Jeez I’m not stupid enough to try and get their attention, Keith” he mutters.

“I’d rather not take any risks,” Keith whispers back with a small smirk on his face.

“Wow rude.”

“Be quiet.”

“Make me.”

Keith’s eyes dart away from the hallway to stare at Lance. The blue paladin feels his cheeks start to heat up as Keith’s eyes stay on his, not blinking. Has to be some freaky Galra thing, he thinks. Keep your opponent uncomfortable and off their game or something. Definitely not his own body betraying him because of those dark pretty eye-what the quiznak?! Lance feels his mouth go dry as the crush he’s been trying to ignore starts to rear its head once again. Crap crap crap, his mind supplies helpfully. Keith looks away just as the first troops come into view and Lance takes a shaky breath as whatever that feeling was lessens. What the actual hell?

“Ready, Lance?” “Uh, y-yeah” He forces down the pesky feeling for what seems like the umpteenth time and tries to force his voice back down to a normal pitch. “Let’s do this.” He obviously failed because Keith looks back immediately.“You alright?”

Lance looks up at Keith despite his best judgement and nods, hefting his bayard. “Never better. And-” he forces a grin onto his face as he looks down the hallway at the approaching Galra. “I’m definitely gonna win this time.”

The concern on Keith’s face disappears and he smiles. “In your dreams, Lance.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith's thoughts this time. And things start getting real.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all. Back again with the next chapter. It's going to be a little more introspective this time because it's Keith and we all know how broody he is. Also I apologize in advance.

All in all it had seemed like a normal mission. Sneak into a Galra station with the Green Lion’s stealth ability and steal some information to help the coalition plan their attacks. Normal, except for the fact that Allura had decided to put Keith and Lance together as a decoy team while Shiro and Pidge acquired the information. Usually this wouldn’t bother Keith that much. Usually.

Unfortunately it felt like something had changed between them recently and Keith just couldn’t figure it out. Instead of being pissed off at all of Lance’s jokes and pranks he’d found himself actually amused. Which worried him, because to be honest it didn’t seem like they’d gotten any better since they’d started this whole adventure.

He’d considered mentioning it to Shiro but decided against it after the older paladin had confided that as annoyed as he always seemed at Lance’s antics he actually enjoyed them. So Shiro was biased. Hunk was definitely out of the question considering he was Lance’s best friend and apparently obligated to consider everything the blue paladin said as funny. Pidge was a possibility. They seemed to be annoyed by Lance just as much as Keith used to be. The only problem was finding time to actually talk to Pidge when they weren’t busy…which seemed to be never. Allura and Coran? Probably not the best idea as they still haven’t gotten a grasp of Earth humor and wouldn’t understand how annoying Lance is actually being.

So here he was in the middle of a fight alongside Lance unable to figure out why exactly he felt comfortable with the person who usually annoyed him to no end. Which actually really pissed him off. So he took it out on the Galra drones surrounding him. Focusing on the satisfying crashes and sparks as his bayard sliced through them instead of the strange feeling that kept trying to resurface as he caught glimpses of Lance at his side.

The blue paladin was actually holding his own pretty well. For every drone Keith took down Lance was smashing through one of his own. Keith was actually a little impressed as he noticed that nearly every drone Lance took out had a scorched hole in the center of its head. _Pretty awesome sharpshooter indeed._ The red paladin blinked in surprise as the thought entered his head. _What the hell?_

“Keith, quit slacking off! I’m about to win here!”

Keith shook himself quickly and yanked his bayard from the drone in front of him. It fell with a clatter that the paladin ignored as he turned to the next robot. Only to find Lance finishing off the last one with a wide grin.

“And I win! Take that, mullet-head ” he laughed as he put his bayard away.

And annoying Lance was back. That was more like it. Keith rolled his eyes and brushed a few pieces of metal off of his blade. “Not sure how you consider this a win. All you did was finish first, not take out more.”

“Excuse me?! Look around, Keith. I know I took out more than you while you were over there brooding or whatever. ”

“You’re welcome to count your wins if you don’t mind getting caught by the next group.” Keith deactivated his bayard and turned to leave, Lance grumbling behind him.

“Honestly, Keith, could you be any more of a buzzki-?”

Keith whipped around as Lance’s complaining ended in a surprised choke. His eyes widened as he took in the half-destroyed drone standing behind Lance. And the bloody weapon sticking through Lance’s armor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops. If it helps at all I promise Lance isn't gonna die.  
> Also thank you guys so much for the kudos. It makes me really happy that you actually enjoy this.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith panics and Lance is a total badass

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi I'm back. Sorry it took a bit but work has kind of been kicking my butt this week. Oh the joys of working retail.  
> Back to the chapter though, I have to tell you guys that imagining the one scene when Lance gets to be a badass is kind of what kicked me into gear to actually write this whole thing out. So hey, here's the scene that kinda brought you this fic.  
> Also I really have to thank you guys so much for all the kudos, bookmarks, and hits. You're amazing.

_Holyshitholyshitholyshit_

Lance’s mind was a mess of noise as he stared down at the sword. Why couldn’t he feel anything? Shouldn’t there be pain or something? He vaguely heard Keith yelling through the growing buzz in his ears. The drone shifted slightly and the rush of pain suddenly made everything clear. He’d been…stabbed. This realization forced his hand up and without thinking of it his bayard materialized to shove against the drone’s head. The loud noise deafened him for a moment and then a painful tugging feeling alerted him to the fact that he was falling. Or rather the now destroyed robot was falling and pulling him with it by the sword still stuck through his side.

Well shit. This was going to hurt.

Lance closed his eyes and braced for the inevitable searing pain when he hit the ground. Instead he felt a pair of armor-clad arms grab him.

“Lance! Lance, talk to me!”

Oh right. Keith.

“Lance, I swear if you don’t open your eyes I’m going to kill you.”

“That…kind of defeats the purpose, doesn’t it?” Lance felt Keith sag slightly in relief as he spoke.

“Don’t do that, you idiot. I thought you were…”

Lance opened his eyes to find Keith’s worried face right above him. Really close in fact. Like inches away from his. Oh well this is new.

“Shiro! Shiro, come in!”

Lance stares at Keith in confusion for a few moments before remembering that yes they were on a mission and Keith wasn’t just holding him for fun. Although it was hard to focus with Keith’s hair falling out of his helmet and almost touching his face.

_“Keith? What’s wrong?”_

“Lance is injured. I need to get him back to the Castle. Will you two be fine without us?”

_“Is it serious? Do you need help getting back to the Lion?”_

“We might yeah. Lance?”

 “Uh what?” Lance pulls his eyes away from Keith’s hair to focus in on his eyes.

Keith’s face gets even more serious if that was possible. “Lance. Stay with me, buddy.”

“’M not going anywhere, handsome.” Wait. That didn’t just come out of his mouth did it? Oh crap. Judging by Keith’s shocked stare it must have.

_“So that’s a yes then”_ Shiro’s worried voice echoed through their helmets. _“We’ll be there in just a few. Try to hang on until then.”_

Oh good. Shiro’s coming, Lance thinks dazedly. Maybe their leader can figure out what’s going on. Why he’s suddenly feels so tired. Sleep sounds so good right now and Keith’s arms are so comfortable even with the armor. Lance lets his eyes slip closed.

Only to have them fly right back open when Keith slaps his cheek. “What the hell?!”

“Don’t you dare fall asleep, Lance,” Keith says furiously. “Not with this bad of a wound.”

Oh right. He got stabbed. And then took out the drone that stabbed him. Lance feels a grin start to grow on his face.

“Lance?” Keith stares at him like he’s grown a second head.

“I’m a total badass.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm hoping to have the next chapter out in the next couple days but I'm going to a convention over the weekend(and possibly cosplaying as Lance depending on how warm it is)so I might be too wiped out afterwards to do much of anything. I'll do my best though!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith is pretty sure Lance has lost his mind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again. Sorry for the wait but this last week has been a crazy mess with work and other crap. Please accept this new chapter as an apology.

Keith stares as his injured teammate keeps grinning. “What’s wrong? Did you hit your head too?”

“Um, excuse you, dude, but I think I’ve earned the right to be smug right now. I totally took out the guy that got me.”

Keith glances at the drone that still has its sword buried in Lance’s side. Its head is completely blasted away but the torso bears the mark of another weapon. Keith stills as he recognizes the slashes on its armor. “Shit.”

Lance’s smile fades slightly as he looks up. “What’s wrong?”

“This is my fault.”

“What?”

Keith can barely look at Lance as he mutters “I thought I’d taken this one down. I’m sorry. You got hurt because I didn’t.” He watches as Lance’s face hardens and prepares to be yelled at or hit or something else he definitely deserves.

“Dude, quit it. This is as much my fault as yours.”

“…what?”

Lance rolls his eyes. “I clearly wasn’t paying attention. Heck, I deactivated my bayard before checking to make sure they were actually all dead.”

“Lance, no this wasn’t-” The red paladin flinches as the back of Lance’s hand connects with his chin. It really doesn’t hurt but it surprises him enough to stop talking.

“Keith. Stop blaming yourself. At least for now. Be emo all you want when we get back to the Castle but right now you need to quiznaking focus.”

Keith blinks. Then smiles weakly. “’Quiznaking’? Really Lance?”

The blue paladin flushes slightly. “Shut up, you ugly mullet-head.”

“I thought you just said I was handsome?” Keith watches in amazement as Lance’s face gets steadily redder.

“I um-“

“Lance!”

There’s a blur of green and white armor as Pidge races over, Shiro not far behind. “Lance, are you alright?!”

Lance grins and attempts a wave. “’Sup, guys?”

Keith just stares.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the other paladins enter the scene. Tune in next time for more of Lance being distracted by his feelings.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance gets distracted by Keith at a really bad time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes. Sorry about the two week wait, guys.

To be honest Lance really doesn’t feel his injury. Sure he knows he should probably be in a lot of pain but it really just feels numb; which he’s actually grateful for because he doesn’t have the best pain tolerance on a good day.

The numbness disappears immediately once Shiro tries to move the sword in his side. He wasn’t even trying to pull it out-they knew better thanks to their training at the Garrison- but just shifting it slightly to remove it from the drone’s inactive hand had Lance gasping at the shooting pain. Shiro looked apologetic but didn’t stop until he had the sword’s handle free. Lance couldn’t blame him for wanting to get it over with quickly. They were still on the station where any Galra troops could find them. It didn’t help lessen the pain any though.

Once he’d gotten his breathing back under control he started paying attention to the others again. Keith and Shiro were quietly arguing over something and Pidge was watching some kind of scanner while holding Lance’s hand. The blue paladin frowned slightly as he realized he was squeezing their hand fairly tight. He quickly released it and murmured an apology.

Pidge smiled down at him before turning to Shiro and Keith. “We’ve got a squad incoming. They’ll be here in a few minutes so you two need to figure out our plan and fast.”

“Right.” Shiro kneels next to Keith and takes Lance’s hand. “Lance, what we’re going to do is break off as much of the weapon as we can before trying to move you. I’m not gonna lie, this is really going to hurt. Think you can handle it?”

Lance glances down at the sword and frowns. “Doesn’t really matter if I can or not, does it? Can’t really leave with it all stuck in there. Let’s just get it over with.” From the corner of his eye he sees the concerned looks his teammates give each other and sighs. “Really, guys, we don’t have time to argue over this. And hey, if I black out Keith can just slap me again.”

“You did what, Keith?!”

“He was passing out, Shiro! I had to do something. And it worked, didn’t it?”

Shiro sighed. “Fine. But when we get back we’re having a serious talk about hitting injured people. Okay, ready? On three…”

Lance grins at the pout that appears on Keith’s face. _Damn that’s cute. Wait. No it really isn’t. This is Keith, remember? Moody, angry Keith that pisses me off? Definitely not cute. Not at all. Although honestly his hair doesn’t look half bad right now._

He’s so wrapped up in his internal argument that he misses Shiro’s countdown. His focus is yanked back as the older paladin grabs the tip of the sword and snaps it apart between his hands. “Shiiiiit” he groans as a brand new burst of pain washes through his body. How the hell is this worse than before? As the pain subsides and he blinks back the dark spots in his vision he focuses in on his teammates’ faces. Or more accurately, Keith’s. The red paladin looks even more unhappy than usual and Lance can’t stop himself from thinking that he wants to get rid of that frown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah maybe don't follow Shiro's example when it comes to field medicine. Might get it done but most people don't have an alien healing pod waiting afterwards. And don't get distracted by your crush when you've been impaled...
> 
> Work has seriously been kicking my butt with Black Thursday/Friday happening in just over a week which is the main reason for the long wait between updates. I've basically been coming home and crashing on the couch and not feeling like doing much of anything but watching Let's Players on YouTube. Hopefully once this awful holiday is over I'll be able to upload more *fingers crossed*


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith keeps being distracted as they run to safety

Keith scowled as he shifted Lance upright and a low whine escaped the blue paladin’s mouth. He braced the other against his chest and nodded at Shiro. “Hang in there,” he whispered.

He couldn’t help his flinch as Lance’s hand grabbed onto his arm and dug in as Shiro snapped the other end of the sword in half. The grip didn’t hurt much but the fact that the other paladin willingly held onto him, in pain or not, was unusual. Pulling back slightly he was surprised to see Lance’s eyes focused on him as he shuddered through the newest pain.

“Keith, you ready?”

The red paladin tore his eyes away to meet Shiro’s. “Y-yeah. Lance?”

“A-as I’ll ever be,” Lance groaned.

_Shit he sounds bad_. Pushing away the thought he carefully passed Lance over to Shiro who lifted him into a sort of bridal carry, avoiding the shard of metal still stuck through Lance’s armor. “Let’s get out of here.”

The race back to the Green Lion seemed to pass by in a blur for Keith. He was aware of more drones attacking and he and Pidge destroying them quickly but the majority of his attention was focused on Shiro next to him. Or more accurately the slow trickle of blood he could see making its way down the Black paladin’s armor. He was trying not to think too hard about where it was coming from. As he fought he could see Lance tensing up each time Shiro had to move out of the way of a Galra blast or a drone’s slash. He hadn’t said anything since they’d started running and that was starting to worry Keith. Lance never shut up and the fact that he was so silent now made him want to get that jokester back if just to make him feel better.

As the Green Lion came into view the number of Galra troops lessened and they were able to get aboard without too much trouble. Pidge dropped into their seat and started preparing to take off. Shiro glanced over at them and carefully handed Lance off to Keith. “I need to help navigate. Try and keep him awake, okay, Keith?”

“What, you don’t trust me, Shiro?” Lance joked weakly.

Shiro smiled. “Not really.”

Keith watched as Lance’s mouth dropped open in surprise. “I feel so betrayed. My own Space Dad doesn’t trust me.”

“Just hang in there. And quit calling me ‘Space Dad’.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that chapter took longer than I thought. I was seriously wiped out after Black Friday and really haven't felt like doing much of anything yet again. I'll try my best to get the next chapter out faster *fingers crossed*


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally safe in the Green Lion, Lance contemplates his crush and his maybe not so terrible hair

Well at least that was over, Lance thought as he leaned his head back against Keith’s shoulder while watching Shiro hurry over to Pidge. The run back here had been horrible. Every step Shiro took had felt like another stab to his side. He was surprised he’d made it without screaming or passing out. It was also a little surprising how strong Keith was. He’d barely shifted as Shiro had handed Lance over.

“Lance?”

It took a moment but Lance managed to pull his head upright to look at Keith. Crap he looked really worried. “What’s up?”

“I’m going to try and sit us down. Do you think you can handle it?”

He glanced down at the floor. That…looked like a long way down. “Uh. ” He felt Keith tense up and looked up in time to see the red paladin’s face flush in…annoyance maybe? “You good?”

“Pretty sure I should be asking you that.”

Lance took a deep breath as he felt Keith start to lower them, expecting to be in serious pain any second. It honestly wasn’t bad until they actually reached the floor. Then all the air rushed out of him and the pain flew back with a vengeance as Keith settled them back against the wall and carefully shifted Lance in his arms. Oh shit that hurts.

A hand brushed his hair back as he tried to get his breathing back under control. Wait where’d his helmet go? And how did he end up on Keith’s lap?

“Is the pain any better now?”

Lance tried to nod but hissed as the movement sent another stab through him. “Oh quiznak that was a mistake.”  Above him Keith seemed lost in thought as he continued to brush the sweaty hair off of Lance’s forehead. The blue paladin sighed and let his eyes slip shut. Huh. This was actually kind of nice. It was a little easier to ignore the pain when he had Keith to distract him.

“Lance?”

“Hmm?”

A sharp poke to his forehead had Lance opening his eyes to glare wearily. Keith’s finger was still poised above his head, ready to jab him again.

“Don’t fall asleep, remember?”

“Keith, don’t slap him again.”

Lance watched Keith turn to snap at Shiro and marveled at how his hair just kind of fell to the side as he moved. He really needed a haircut. Or maybe not. That mullet was kind of growing on him. Like the rest of him. _Oh come on_ , his mind dazedly thought. _I’m probably dying so_ _can we not do this right now_? This stupid crush can totally wait until the afterlife, can’t it? He lifted a hand slowly to poke at Keith’s leg.

“Hey…”

Keith’s attention turned back to him and Lance felt himself smile through the newest wave of pain. “Y’know what, mullet? Your hair isn’t actually…half…bad.”

“Lance, what are you talking about? Lance? Shiro, get back here!  Lance, open your eyes! Lance!”

Lance sighs as he lets himself finally slip into the quiet darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry, guys. I thought I'd be able to get this one out so much sooner but things went down in real life and I just haven't had time :(
> 
> I can't promise that the next one will be out any faster as I'm in the process of moving and I'm not sure when exactly I'll have things in order enough to spend time writing or have internet to post it. I do have the next two chapters mostly written but I'm still not sure exactly how I'm going to end this fic. Obviously these two dorks are getting together in some way I just need to actually get it down on paper...or y'know text document.
> 
> I'll do my best to get this finished! *fingers crossed*


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith needs a reminder from his team that things will be fine

Keith stares at Lance through the glass of the healing pod. He’s vaguely aware of the others talking around him but can’t focus on anything specific. Lance had almost died. He’d almost died and it had been his fault. He should have paid more attention to the drones. He should have made sure they were all down. He should have-

 A hand lands on his shoulder startling him out of his thoughts. He tears his gaze away to stare at Shiro. “What?”

 “I said we need to talk about this.”

 Keith flinches away. “Not right now.”

 “I need to know what exactly happened.”

 “What happened, Shiro, was I didn’t have his back!” the red paladin snaps. “I was distracted and he ended up getting stabbed by a drone I didn’t make sure was dead.”

 “Keith…”

 “Don’t, Shiro. I know this was my fault.”

 “Keith!” Shiro’s sharp tone surprises the other paladin and he takes a step back. “You do realize your radios were on the entire time we were on our way, right? I heard everything Lance was saying. He doesn’t blame you for what happened and neither do I. This was an accident.”

 “But Lance is-“

 “Lance is going to be fine. We got him back here in time and he’ll be awake and good as new in a day or so.” Shiro’s eyes softened and he rests both hands on Keith’s shoulders. “You did fine getting him out of there. Stop blaming yourself for something you honestly couldn’t have expected.”

 Another hand joins Shiro’s and Keith looks up to see Hunk’s watery smile, the other paladin’s eyes still red and puffy from when they had brought Lance in. “You did good, man. I’ve still got my best buddy thanks to you.”

 “Hunk, I…”

 Smaller arms wrap around his waist and Pidge meets his surprised look with a teary grin. “Ditto, you emo loser.”

 Keith feels something crumble inside him and leans heavily against Shiro’s chest as his eyes start to fill. “Thanks, you guys.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so so so sorry for the wait, guys. Moving seriously sucked(but finally feel safe in my own apartment again so that's a win), work decided to switch my schedule all to crap(6am shift right after a 1-9pm shift really sucks btw)and this is actually the first free time I've had where I've actually felt okay enough to edit and put something up here. I honestly would love to shove anxiety face first into a wormhole at this point...
> 
> So yeah, um pardon the small rant and hope you enjoy this and the next chapter I'm putting up in just a few minutes. My gift to you guys for so patiently waiting :)


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith has a small crisis and can't sleep

Shiro had insisted that Keith get some rest and as exhausted as he was the red paladin hadn’t argued. After being steered back to his room by a worried Shiro he’d stripped off his armor and collapsed face-first on his bed. As much as he tried though, sleep just wouldn’t come. He knew he was tired. Hell he had barely been able to walk back to his room without Shiro’s help.

After what felt like hours he shifted onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. He couldn’t shake the nagging feeling of guilt even though everyone had specifically told him it wasn’t his fault. Even Lance had said it. Although Lance had said a lot of weird things today.

Keith slowly sat up and pulled his knees into his chest. What exactly had Lance been getting at earlier with all those remarks? It seemed almost like how he tried to flirt with every pretty girl they came across. There hadn’t been any pretty girls around though. Just him. Was Lance so delirious with pain he’d actually started flirting with him because he’d though Keith was a girl? Or was he actually…no. Keith scowled and climbed out of bed to pace around his small room. It didn’t work as well as beating up training droids did for calming his mind but he knew he’d either get injured himself if he went to the training deck or Shiro would stop him on the way and lecture. Either outcome was very unappealing.

As he paced he turned over the day’s events in his head. Specifically Lance’s apparent attempts at flirting. He’d said he didn’t mind Keith’s hair that much but that had to have been a joke. Lance never let up on the hair jabs when it came to Keith. Mullet this and Mullet that, even referring to him as ‘Mullet Boy’ on numerous occasions. He slowed and thoughtfully brought a hand up to run through his hair. _Maybe he meant it this time_ , some part of his mind whispered. _Maybe he actually likes your hair now. Maybe he likes_ you.

A quiet knock at his door startled him out of his thoughts. He opened it to see Shiro glaring from the other side. “I thought I told you to rest. I could hear your pacing from the hall.”

Keith turned away and groaned as he fell back onto his bed. “Believe me I’m trying.”

Shiro sighed and came to sit next to him. “Alright what’s wrong?”

“I, uh” Keith eyed him for a moment before giving up. “Screw it. Shiro, do you think Lance actually likes me?”

“Um. That kind of depends on your definition of ‘like’ I suppose.”

“I’m pretty sure he was flirting with me earlier but I’m not sure if he was just delirious or what.” Keith stared as Shiro started laughing. “What the hell, Shiro, I’m being serious here.”

“Sorry sorry, I haven’t heard you actually go on a rant like that for a long time.” The older paladin quickly got himself under control and looked seriously at Keith. “I can’t really speak for Lance but it sounded almost like he might have been? I mean he seemed really out of it and I can’t blame him for that but the way he was looking at you didn’t look like he was delirious.”

“See that’s my problem. He even said he liked my hair! And you know how many jokes he makes about it.”

“Okay that one I think we can blame on the pain. But honestly, Keith, if Lance actually did like you enough to flirt would that really be such a bad thing?”

Keith scowled and rolled over to press his face into his pillow. “I really don’t know, Shiro.”

A gentle hand made its way into his hair as he glared into the pillow. “You know you don’t have to figure this out right now. Lance isn’t even going to be up for a day or two. Why don’t you wait and talk to him then?”

He sighed as Shiro’s hand worked its way through the tangled mess, feeling the tension in his body lessen. “I just don’t like feeling this uncertain.”

“I know, Keith. But sometimes it’s good to wait. Besides if you still feel this way tomorrow you can go kick the crap out of as many training droids as you want. I’ll even let you up the training level if you want.”

“Sure sounds good.” Keith yawned. “Thanks, Shiro.”

“No problem. Now actually try and sleep, got it?”

“Got it, Space Dad,” Keith replied with a smirk.

“Damn it, Lance.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, Keith, you poor awkward child just embrace your feeling(says the person who hasn't had an actual relationship yet xD)
> 
> Um so I honestly didn't mean for that to maybe get a little Sheithy there, sorry. I blame the fact that I multiship some paladins...
> 
> Just so you guys know the next couple chapters will probably be Keith focused as Lance is still getting his beauty sleep-I mean healing up in the pod. Hopefully I can get time to actually write out the end of this whole thing *fingers crossed*
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hunk and Keith have a talk

Keith woke with a start as the door to his room slid open with a soft hiss. He slowly slipped his hand underneath his pillow to grip the handle of his blade and opened an eye just wide enough to see the intruder. 

“You can put the knife away, Keith. It’s just me,” Hunk said as he made his way through the scattered pieces of Keith’s armor still littering the floor.

Keith sighed and slowly sat up, wincing as his muscles complained. “Sorry, force of habit. Did you need something?”

“Actually yeah.” Hunk took a seat on the chair across from Keith and handed over a bowl of food goo. “You missed dinner last night so I figured you’d at least want some breakfast. That and I wanted to see how you were feeling after yesterday.”

“I’m fine.” Keith carefully avoided meeting the other paladin’s eyes as he stirred the goo in the bowl. He could feel Hunk’s disbelieving stare boring into him even without looking up.

“Keith, please. I can tell you’re really not fine.”

The red paladin continued to stare at his bowl, shoulders hunching as the silence dragged on.

“If it helps, Coran said that Lance is showing some real signs of improvement. He might even be getting out today.”

The stirring stopped and Keith glanced up at Hunk. “Really?”

“Yep. And then you two can finally talk about that flirting that happened,” Hunk said, almost too casually.

Keith felt his face heat up and quickly stared back down at his food, ignoring Hunk’s quiet snicker. “Not sure what you’re talking about.”

Hunk tapped his ear. “Open radios, remember? I heard everything Lance said on the mission. And of course everything he’s been telling me about you lately too.”

“Wait…what?”

Hunk looks a little embarrassed and Keith wonders if he hadn’t meant for that to slip out. He stares at the other paladin as Hunk slowly turned red. “Uh are you alright?”

“I’m sorry, Keith, I really didn’t mean to say that! Lance told me all this stuff in secret and I just hate keeping secrets! It just feels wrong not to say anything since he clearly really likes you. And honestly I can tell you like him too.”

Keith blinked a few times. He looked at his bowl of food goo then back at Hunk who has since trailed off and is now watching him worriedly.

“Keith?”

“Was it really that obvious?” he asked quietly.

“Not really. I actually didn’t start putting anything together until this last mission.”

The red paladin nodded slowly. “Honestly I’m not really sure what this is.”

Hunk frowns. “You’ve never liked someone before?”

“I don’t think so. Is that really what this is?”

“I think that’s kind of for you to figure out, y’know? I’m not about to butt into any of this before you two have a chance to talk about it.”

“And what if he doesn’t want to talk about this? You know how Lance is. He makes jokes about everything. Remember our ‘bonding moment’ back when we first started all this? I don’t…” Keith’s hand tightened on the handle of the spoon. “I don’t want this to just be another joke like that was.”

Hunk reached around and gently patted Keith on the back. “Just try, Keith. He might actually surprise you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah hi. I'm back. I'm so sorry about the wait, guys, I really am. Some things went down over the summer and I just couldn't find any motivation to write with all the stress and other crap. But I managed to to get this and the next chapter finished up today so I'm pretty proud of myself for that.
> 
> Hope you all enjoy and fingers crossed I'll be back to share the next chapter soon!

**Author's Note:**

> Really short I know but I figured having each pov switch might be easier with different chapters no matter how short they are. I might go back and edit this more once I actually figure out how I want to end this.  
> \--  
> I honestly just came up with this fic idea right before Season 4 came out. The whole universe(mostly Lance if I'm being honest)kind of kicked me back into writing after literal years of nothing. So thanks, Voltron creators. You gave me my muse back.


End file.
